Stephen Drew not shying away from his older brother’s history in Boston

Thursday

Dec 27, 2012 at 5:13 PM

Stephen Drew knows the comparisons are inevitable. In fact, he’s inviting them by wearing the same number as a Red Sox as his older brother.On Thursday, he shrugged them off as any younger brother would.“I’m...

By TIM BRITTON

Stephen Drew knows the comparisons are inevitable. In fact, he’s inviting them by wearing the same number as a Red Sox as his older brother.

On Thursday, he shrugged them off as any younger brother would.

“I’m a different person than J.D. and J.D. is a different person than me,” Drew said on Thursday. “I’ve always been under my two older brothers. It’s nothing new to me. At the same time, I look at J.D. as a role model for me. I always have.”

Along with the pressure of living up to two older brothers who made the majors — middle brother Tim spent five years in the bigs as a pitcher — Stephen Drew mentioned the added element of always playing on the middle infield. He’ll also have the scrutiny that comes with a one-year contract; to make this all worthwhile, Drew has to rebuild his value before he hits free agency again next winter.

He thinks Boston is the best place to do that.

“The need for shortstops is so great,” Drew’s agent, Scott Boras, said. “When you add in Stephen’s swing plane and his metrics, where he hits the ball in Fenway, we really felt like that was kind of the match made for what strengths Stephen has as a hitter and what the ballpark in Boston provides. ... After this year, everyone is going to think a lot differently about what kind of player Stephen is and the impact he can have on a division-contending team.”

Drew had his worst major-league season in 2012, hitting just .223 with a .309 on-base percentage between stops in Arizona and Oakland. Some of that can be attributed to the broken ankle that ended his 2011 season and required 11 months of recovery.

“He was one of the better everyday shortstops in baseball for quite a stretch there, and then he had the really bad ankle fracture that he suffered in 2011 and it took him the full year to get back out playing,” Red Sox assistant general manager Brian O’Halloran said on Wednesday. “But he played well down the stretch and he also helped out Oakland in their stretch drive into the playoffs after the trade. We brought him in for a physical exam and our folks were very pleased with his progress.”

Drew did indeed show improvement after he was shipped from the Diamondbacks to the Athletics, hitting .250 with a .326 on-base percentage and five homers in 39 games.

Drew said missing so much time with the ankle injury gave him a different perspective on the game, as he realized just how much he missed it.

“As players, every day you get to play the game you love. It’s tough getting it taken away,” he said. “It put me in a different perspective looking back on it. Now I think I enjoy the game a little more.”

Drew added that, although he came back a little early from the injury in Arizona, he felt he was at his best defensively after the deal to Oakland.

“I came back a little too soon because they wanted me out on the field,” he said. “Getting to go to Oakland that last month — believe it or not, I know it sounds crazy — but I think my defense was probably better than it's ever been. I felt like my lateral [movement] and the timing of it just got really good.”

Advanced defensive metrics counter that claim, with ultimate zone rating and defensive runs saved suggesting Drew was well below-average in 2012, especially as an Athletic. He had been rated a solid defender at short by those same measures from 2009 through 2011.

Drew said he’s already been working on his lateral movement again this offseason, and he’ll start taking ground balls next week.

Given his older brother’s history of missing a few days here and there with injuries, the temptation may be to roll one’s eyes at Drew's injury history. But before breaking his ankle, Drew was one of the more durable middle infielders in the game, making only one trip to the disabled list in his first five professional seasons.

Prior to the broken ankle, Drew had a six-year stretch in which he hit .270 with a .330 on-base and an average of 12 home runs a year. His greatest strength as a hitter is the same as J.D.’s: his ability to work the count to his advantage.

Drew hit 21 homers in 2008, and his best all-around season came in 2010, when he was a five-win player according to Fangraphs. Only six everyday shortstops have had seasons that valuable over the last three years.